1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to waterproof pump enclosures, and more particularly to a waterproof pump enclosure and system including the same for pumping fuel oil from below history flood levels.
2. Description of Related Art
When Hurricane Sandy hit New York City in October 2012 many of the basements in lower Manhattan were flooded by seawater. New York City basements typically house the boilers, emergency generators, and their diesel fueling systems. Most of the hospitals in Manhattan lost grid power, lost emergency back-up power, and had to be evacuated. For example, Bellevue Hospital had emergency generators above the Sandy flood line, but the fueling system for the generators was in the basement and was incapacitated by flooding.
One option for overcoming these difficulties is to install new pumps above the flood line, but this solution is not practical for all locations. For example, in New York City most of the oil tanks are in the basements of the buildings, and there is not sufficient room to relocate the tanks to location on or within the buildings that would be above the flood line. Pumps cannot be elevated without raising the tanks because positive displacement gear pumps are limited by the amount of suction they can generate to pull oil out of tanks. Positive displacement pumps can generally only pull oil up 12-15 feet. Furthermore, alternatives, such as submersible pumps located in the oil tanks may not be approved for use in all locations.
In addition, there are also problems associated with a system in which submersible pumps are used to pump oil out of the tanks to positive displacement pumps that would supply enough pressure to push oil up many stories to where boilers and diesel generators are sometimes located. Submersible pumps also do not generate enough head pressure to push oil above two or three stories. Additionally, submersible pump-positive displacement pump systems are difficult to control, risk over-pressuring the inlet of the positive displacement pumps, and are at increased risk of causing a fuel oil spill.
Therefore, what is needed is a means for installing positive displacement pumps in their usual location in the basements at the same level as the oil tanks to prevent suction lift problems, and then having pump accessories such as gauges, pressure relief valves, flow switches, and pump controls could be located above the flood level.